(Reuters) - Vivo Energy PLC (L:VVO) launched on the London Stock Exchange on Friday with a valuation of nearly 2 billion pounds ($2.7 billion), the largest London IPO of the year.
The initial offer price for the just under 30 percent of the company floated was set at 165 pence per share and the shares advanced to 169.50 pence in conditional trading.
The company is the downstream fuels joint venture of energy trading house Vitol and Helios Investment Partners. It sells Shell-branded (L:RDSa) fuels and lubricants at nearly 2,000 filling stations in 15 African countries.
"It's a success," said Vivo Chief Executive Christian Chammas. "The offer was seriously oversubscribed."
The IPO is the most significant Africa-focused listing in London since Seplat raised $500 million in a 2014 IPO with a market capitalization of $1.9 billion. [https://reut.rs/2HUmgGb]
Chammas said the listing would allow the company to join the benchmark FTSE 250 index.
($1 = 0.7375 pounds)